4.5 Stars

Hopeful, poignant and uplifting, Donna VanLiere’s The Christmas Table is an emotional page-turner that makes for perfect holiday reading.

In 1972, John Creighton decides to build a kitchen table for his wife Joan. This will probably be John’s most ambitious project to date as thus far, his repertoire has extended only to picture frames, but despite his limited expertise, John refuses to be deterred. He will make his beloved wife’s dream a reality and build her the table she has always wanted for Thanksgiving dinner. John cannot wait to see the joy on her face when he finally finishes this table. An excited Joan cannot wait to see what her husband will create for her and inspired to put something delicious on her new table begins to scour through her mother’s recipes for a Thanksgiving holiday the family will always remember.

In June 2012, Lauren Mabrey has just discovered that she is pregnant. Her friends all rally round her for support and promise that they will always be there for her ready and willing to lend a helping hand and a supportive shoulder when she needs it the most. Humbled by their love and support, Lauren decides to start nesting and to begin to build a home for her and her baby. When she comes across a beautifully finished kitchen table, Lauren decides to buy it and takes it home. Only to find that this table is not a mere piece of furniture but has hidden depths that might just help to clarify and allay some of the fears which Lauren has been experiencing lately. As she finds a hidden drawer under the table with a stack of recipe cards, Lauren begins to feel a connection to the mother who had left the recipe cards for her daughter and assorted notes and suggestions which she soon begins to take to heart. As she begins to experiment in the kitchen thanks to these recipes, Lauren vows to make this mother proud.

As Lauren begins to wonder about who these people were, she finds herself drawn into a mystery that she is determined to solve as she begins her quest for peace, fulfilment and joy in the most magical time of year.

Donna VanLiere’s The Christmas Table is a book that will bring a tear to the eye of even the most jaded and cynical of readers. A writer who deftly juggles pathos and sadness with faith, humor and warmth, The Christmas Table is the story of two different women living four decades apart that will strike a chord with women everywhere and will have readers laughing out loud on one page and crying their eyes out on the next. But The Christmas Table is not a sad book, but a beautifully written tale about family, connection, loyalty and things people do for the ones they love.

A book that is difficult to put down and just as hard to forget, Donna VanLiere’s The Christmas Table is an immensely enjoyable Yuletide read that will steal readers’ hearts this Christmas.

I haven't read any of the previous books in the series and I did feel a little bit lost from the beginning. I found the book to be ok but it just wasn't something I completely enjoyed.

I really enjoyed this story, by a new-to-me author. I normally don't like stories that go back and forth in time, but the author made it seem so seamlessly, it was easy to keep track for the reader.

This really is a lovely Christmas book all full of warmth, love and with food and faith at its core.

I love the woven moments of past and present and presence.
It’s a lovely tale of hope and how cookery shapes a family.

I was asked to provide this honest review in exchange for an arc copy provided by netgalley.

The Christmas Table was my first book of Donna Van Liere and it was a sweet and cozy read. The novel flips between 1972 where Joan and John are happily married parents of two when Joan’s steady world comes crashing down with an unexpected health crisis. John is determined to finish his first table project by the family’s thanksgiving celebration. Speed forward to 2012, and readers meet Lauren. Lauren is newly married and pregnant, while finally decorating her home she inherits a table that comes with recipes wrapped with family memories. Lauren is determined to get them back to their rightful place and embarks on a journey to find the family.

There is nothing sweeter than a holiday read filled with family, love and food. This story made me want to cook and bake and fill my family with all the yummy things that build memories and inspire love.

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very sweet, well-written Christmas tale about two families in two different time periods and the Christmas table they have in common.
Highly recommend.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

Imagine yourself finding a treasure whose value is being discovered with each page turn.
That's how Lauren finds herself discovering handwritten recipe cards in a secret drawer on an old table bought in a sale yard.
She expects a baby and in this new journey, dreams and hopes are built, as she learns to cook through these recipes.

On the other hand, we know the story of the table, when it was made by John Creighton for his wife, Joan, who was supposed to be ready by Christmas.
And again, the reader walks through the emotions experienced by this other family, in hopes and sorrows, when Joan discovers the cancer.

Two families, two stories that cross over a table and recipes cards, making us think, feel and touch the story through time.
4 stars

As the two stories told her converge there is a feeling of warmth and family. The two stories are thoughtful Christian based. There is not much excitement and the story endings could be guessed. If you enjoy reading about family and close friends support this is a good story for you.
I am voluntarily reviewing the advance copy I received from NetGalley.

I like this series and was happy to see another installment. I loved the appearance of characters from past books and love the setting of Grandon. This wasn't my favorite book in the series but I'm glad I read it. It got me in the mood for Christmas.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I did not finish it. The book was written in such a way that it read like a script instead of a book. I couldn't get into the story nor was I able to connect with the characters. I love Christmas themed books so I really wanted to love this, but I did not.

An inspirational story of a table and the families it touched. In the early 1970s it was made by a man for his wife and children. Then, years later, it was accidently sold in a yard sale to a woodworker who eventually refinished it and put it up for sale in his shop. It was bought by a young newlywed who wanted to furnish her new home for her husband.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is part of the Christmas Hope series. Lauren’s story started in The Christmas Town and I recommend reading it prior to beginning The Christmas Table. All the books in this series are a delight to read. I thought The Christmas Table was well-written with steady pacing. The characters are realistic and relatable. They have fears, joys, heartaches, and tribulations just like real people. This is a dual timeline novel that takes readers between 1972 and 2012. Joan Creighton along with her husband, John and their two children are looking forward to the holidays. John is determined to build the family a dining room table out of walnut he found in an old barn. While Joan tackles the recipes given to her by her mother. Their lives are upended when Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer. Things begin to look grim for the family when John meets someone who gives him hope. Lauren Mabrey discovers she is pregnant which thrills her and her husband, Travis. She wants to make sure that her child has a warm, loving home to grow up in. Her friends from Glory’s Place begin the makeover under bossy Miriam’s direction. Lauren finds handwritten recipe cards in a dining table that she purchased. They contain detailed instructions along with family memories. Lauren wants to return the recipe cards to their rightful owner and sets out to find them based on clues in the stories. I like how the author tied the two stories together. We see Lauren learning to cook using the cards and enjoying the special tales on each one. The ending was touching. Some of the recipes from the book are included at the end. I am looking forward to trying Aunt Dee Dee’s Peanut Butter Fudge (I have been trying to find the right recipe for years). The Christmas Table would make a charming Christmas movie. I enjoyed reading The Christmas Table which is a heartwarming, faith filled tale.

Donna VanLiere, best known for the Christmas Hope series, delivers another can't-put-it-down, uplifting to the extreme entry in this already excellent series. The Christmas Table brings back some of the most impactful (and lovable characters) from the earlier Christmas Hope novels and introduces and develops some incredible new characters.

The Christmas Table offers dual stories, each taking span over the course of the months of May-December, but decades apart in years. The story of John and Joan takes place in 1972, as Joan fights cancer by cooking up memories in the kitchen with her two young children and John supports her in every way he can while struggling with both his faith and woodworking (the titled "table").

Lauren, first introduced in The Christmas Town, my initial introduction to this heartwarming series, and Travis' story takes place in 2012. Lauren and Travis are such a cute young couple, very much in love and overjoyed to find out Lauren is pregnant. As Lauren starts nesting, Gloria and Mariam accompany her on a shopping trip to find a kitchen table. And find a table they do! The same one that John build decades before. Once Lauren gets the table home, she finds a secret drawer with Joan's recipes in them. Knowing their sentimental value, Lauren starts searching for the recipes' true owner. In the process, Lauren starts making a few of the dishes and fosters a love of cooking.

The Christmas Table is so incredibly heartwarming and uplifting! It's a mood changer, a palette cleanser for this crazy, heartbreaking year. I cannot recommend it enough! It's my favorite holiday-themed book so far this year.

I loved this book and would give it 10 stars if I could. It's not often that I read I book that I can't wait to reread but this is on my list to reread.

This is the story of a table that unites two families and each family has a remarkable story and amazing friends and families.

I was drawn into the story from the first few pages and felt like I was a member of each family when I finished. The story line is nicely interwoven that does not interrupt the flow of the story. The book is well-written and an easy read. This will be a yearly holiday read for me.

Lauren loved her volunteer position at Glory’s Place, where children could safely go after school for homework help or just to have supportive and caring adults involved in their lives. Lauren had been raised in foster care, and knew all too well what it was like to go without that kind of support, but the other volunteers and the owner, Gloria, had all accepted her without question. After Lauren announced her pregnancy, the staff jumped in to help her ready her home for the addition of a baby. Miriam and Lauren visited Larry at the local woodshop to find Lauren a dining table, and came away with the perfect one. Made of black walnut, Larry had refinished it and repaired the small drawer, and Lauren was stunned to discover a set of recipe cards tucked in the back of the drawer. She decided that this was a sign that she needed to learn to cook, and became accomplished using the recipes that were clearly handed down from a loving mother to her daughter.

John’s hobby of woodworking was becoming an obsession as he worked to finish the black walnut table in time for Christmas. 1972 had been a brutal year for the family, with Joan’s cancer diagnosis, and the chemotherapy was draining what little energy she had, though she was determined to keep up appearances for their six year old daughter Gigi and toddler son Christopher. Her mother’s recipes, with the notes she had written recalling good times while Joan was growing up, helped bond the family together as Joan prepared the delicious food.

The Christmas Table is a beautiful story that evokes both laughter and tears, through Joan’s diagnosis and the newfound faith of both John and Joan, to Lauren’s lonely upbringing and her happy marriage and pregnancy. Lauren’s focus on finding the family who had originally owned the recipe cards in order to return them made me smile, and the love and support from her husband and her friends at Glory’s Place was wonderful. This is definitely a feel good book with love and loyalty running through it.

The Christmas Table is a story of love, beliefs and all that is good in the world. It gives you strength and reinforces the belief that we are not alone and there is a higher purpose in our world. And it comes wrapped up into the joy and love that is Christmas. The story is really a dual story. Two families a generation apart working heading into an unknown Christmas Season.

One family is struggling with the mother having cancer. Her family adores her and only wants to make her better but struggle with the belief it will get better. Meanwhile the husband is making her a beautiful table to celebrate and honor their meals together. Her mother gave her recipe cards as a gift and she makes each meal as a tribute to good food and love of a family.

The second story is about a young woman who was taken from her family and sent about the foster system. She is now married and expecting their first baby. A group of women have made it their mission to help her get ready for the baby and found her an old but beautiful table for her kitchen. The table had a secret drawer with all her mother’s recipe cards.

The story reminds of all that is good in the world and that people do care. Interestingly enough this book is the tenth in a series all about Christmas. The stories seem to center on the people around helping others during this season. The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is a wonderful read.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. What a sweet Christmas story told in two different time frames. I just loved how it all came together.

The Christmas Table is a book for all seasons. We see life through the eyes of John and Joan Creighton and their children Gigi and Christopher from the spring of 1972. John is challenged to complete a kitchen table for Joan from three beautiful slabs of black walnut wood in his little workshop behind the house. Joan would love to have it completed by Thanksgiving or Christmas, but no pressure.

Their tale alternates with that of Travis and Lauren Mabrey beginning in May of 2012. Lauren is barely pregnant with their first child, and Travis takes time out from his job with the county parks department to search in antique stores and garage sales for the perfect table to fill their kitchen with family traditions. By Christmas, they will be parents. Lauren is a clerk in the floral department of Clauson's Supermarket by morning, and in the afternoon is one of several women responsible for Glory's Place, a haven for disadvantaged children with meals and after-school programs. In the drawer of the black walnut table that Travis found, is a packet of 3 x 5 recipe cards, each with notes from a loving mother to her newly married daughter, and instructions for completing the dish as would be needed by a new cook. Lauren is inexperienced in the kitchen but she is learning a lot about preparing foods from these little recipe cards, although she is certain that the recipient of the recipes would not have just left them to strangers. Unfortunately, there are no hints as to the names of the recipient nor the sender of the cards, although there are several references to Bud, a dairyman with excellent milk and milk products. Lauren has friends and family trying to find a dairyman named Bud from 30 or more years ago, as he might be able to help her find the rightful owner of these treasures. In the meantime, she has made copies for herself to begin her own recipe collection. Some of the recipes are included in this story - you probably won't be able to avoid trying them out for yourself. I sure couldn't.

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent novel from Netgalley, Donna VanLiere, and St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Donna VanLiere is an author to look for when you need that little lift of faith or hope to be found in the kind eyes of another.

I look forward to reading Donna VanLiere's latest Christmas novel each year. Her stories are always so sweet, so inspiring! The Christmas Table spans several generations, several towns, and both tragedies and triumphs! A big dose of faith and what could only be divine intervention brings the right people together at the right time in a culminating in the solving of the mystery. Coming together first as strangers and then as friends, The Christmas Table and it's cast of characters will win you over and warm your hearts!

This is a new-to-me author, and I have to admit that I almost passed on this story. I’m don’t tend to read books from a series unless I have read the previous books. The synopsis of this story really drew me in and, looking back at the previous books, I realized they aren’t actually connected in a way that makes it necessary to read the others first. In fact, after reading this book I can say it read as a true standalone to me.

Let me warn you, this story will make you cry. My tears weren’t all of sadness, there were also tears of joy at times. Joan is such a marvelous mother and wife, and John a virtuous and loving husband and father. The love between these two is a beautiful thing. No matter what life throws in their path, they never waver. When one feels like giving up the fight, the other just fights harder until they are on equal footing again.

The jumping back in forth was done seamlessly and with great skill. I was never confused as to who I was reading about or what era I was in. While I enjoyed the story of John and Joan the most, Lauren’s story helped to bring light when things got dark.

I’ll definitely be checking out the other books in this series. I’m a sucker for a good sentimental Christmas story, and this one checked all the boxes.